Why Consistency Is So Important

Consistency – steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, form, etc.:

There is consistency in his pattern of behavior.

That is the definition of consistency by dictionary.reference.com

Consistency is important for several reasons when it comes to exercise and weight lifting.  For one, you need to be consistent.  Otherwise, what are you?  If you aren’t consistent, I’m assuming you’re following fad diets and dropping them about as quick as you start. I’m also assuming an exercise plan doesn’t last long with you.  Not saying this to be rude, but isn’t that the only case possible?  I believe that this is so.  We all need to work on being consistent with our gym, diet, and exercise habits.  Let’s highlight why consistency is so important:

1. Being consistent can at least guarantee some results.  You may hit some plateaus, but I promise you that over time you will see results.  Whether you’ve been working out for a month or a year, going to the gym will still help you so don’t give up.
2. Your views on weightlifting and exercise will change.  According to a huffingtonpost article I will link at the bottom of this post, it takes roughly 66 days to make something a habit.  More or less, if you stick to going to the gym and eating right, you should be able to build a habit of going to the gym and eating right.
3. With all the dedication to exercising and weightlifting, you may learn new things.  If you get focused a certain task or aspect of fitness because you’ve been consistent and want to learn more, then you may be more apt to ask questions and research articles on diet and exercise.
4. You will probably meet people with similar interests and make friends.  Why did you decide to consistently go to the gym?  Because you have some sort of fitness goal, right?  Everyone else there does too.  That means you already have at least one thing in common with someone in the gym.  You can get to know them better and help each other become more fit through advice and motivation.

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Links to the sources I used above:

Definition of consistency as provided by dictionary.com

Article on forming habits from Huffington Post

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Compound Workouts FTW!

At just about any gym you have the ability to choose to do compound workouts or isolation exercises. If you don’t know the difference, here’s the difference:

Compound workouts work a few muscle groups in one exercise. Examples of compound workouts include:  Bench press, squat, pull ups, dead lift, and bent over rows.

Isolation workouts are exercises that work on only one muscle at a time. They isolate that muscle. Examples of these would be: Preacher curls, triceps extensions, shoulder press, leg extensions, and leg curls.

Both are great for you and you can get a lot of results by using them in conjunction, such as doing a compound workout like squat that will work about every muscle in your legs and then doing isolation on each muscle to get that extra work done.

However, this post is to explain a lot of the benefits of compound workouts.

1. They’ll work muscles out in less than half the time. Rather than doing 3 sets for abs, 3 sets for quads, 3 sets for hamstrings, 3 sets for calves, and 3 sets for glutes you can do 3 sets of heavy squats and get about the same amount of work done.
2. They will help you condition better. Rather than doing an isolation workout and working one muscle you are working several, and a lot of your body is involved at once so you are going to get winded a lot faster. Get used to doing repitions with good form on dead lift or squat and you will be incredibly well conditioned.
3. They are pure awesome. You may occasionally hear someone ask how much you can preacher curl of chest press, but it’s more likely you’ll be asked how much you can bench or squat or weighted pull up when asked how strong you are. When asked these questions you want to be strong and built on a solid foundation so these workouts are generally the right ones to do in the gym world.

That’s all I’ve got to say about compound exercises in this post. I’m sure I can give you more information later and some information on isolation workouts as I am always learning new things myself. Keep working out and remember to build mass, one pump at a time. 

Lastly, take a look at this shirt my friend bought. I thought it was hilarious so here it is.